Side Project / Shared (2021)

I think BBT is touchable and I'll touch it all day

Honestly, and in all seriousness, my view in this regard is and has always been tainted by fresh draft of BBT b1 being a travesty of a booze bomb, so I never fell for the hype on its subsequent releases, although I had a coworker living in the city at the time who could have muled (still have the bullet hole from shooting myself in the foot on that one).

The bottle share crew and I have built a nice vertical of the subsequent vintages since then, so I'll definitely be revisiting, but I'm also notorious in my group for tempering my expectations. I've had too many come from behind stunners since then to expect to be wowed, particularly since heavy chocolate tones and overwhelming thickness aren't my bag anyway. I've always found those characteristics to be detractors when overdone, and SP and Perennial have pushed the envelope on that front a little too far on several occasions.

I also think my palate's sensitivity to lactose inhibits my ability to enjoy most of their stouts to the fullest, which may be why I often prefer BL and Voodoo these days.

 

Good thing BBT 2021 is thin by BBT standards. IMO of course.

 

which I actually enjoyed! I am probably in the minority but I don’t want every ba stout to be a milkshake consistency. No I don’t want it thin but as long as the flavor is on point I am good

 

you need to make shit of that notion. it’s been well documented by just how far inferior BBT1 is to all its successors. that said, it was still an extremely above-average BA imperial stout (along the likes of Maman and Assassin for sure). now, if you’re sitting on b2 and b3 and saving them to drink, i can’t opine because those should probably have been consumed by now. but 3 (kind of guessing here), 4 & 5 should not be judged by b1. think of them as completely different beers, because they are.

 

I wish I had this fresh. We just opened one a couple months ago and nobody at our share thought it was on the level you described. But, I hear from a lot of people that had it fresh that it was top notch in it's prime.

If you are sitting on 2018 I wouldn't wait much longer. Barrel is fading on that one from what I remember fresh. What's left is more my taste with lot's of baker's chocolate notes, but the big bourbon barrel that I remember has definitely faded. 2019, 2020, and 2021 are all doing great from the bottle.

 

I'm with you both and diametrically opposed to the concept of sitting on non-lambic, particularly if I haven't tried them before. Trust me I am pushing for a whale share ASAP, maybe as soon as NYE, but I'm only one voice in a group with a few cellar dwellers lol.

 

That bird is going to be wasted.

 

Count me in on the fanboy side of SP. I thought I knew what Saisons/Wilds, BA stouts were with BCBS, Bottle Logic, Alesmith, Modern Times, Firestone Walker, Lost Abbey, etc, but then Baback sent me Coffee Shop Vibes & Leaner as gifts and my mind & palate was blown away. I fell DEEP into that rabbit hole, and am now fully committed. I also hated Barleywine before, but now love it because of SP. By all means, I still very much am a overall beer novice (slightly past noob level), especially compared to my palate for wines & whisky, but it’s safe to say that SP is now the gold standard by which I compare other stouts, barleywines, and Saisons.

Thankfully thru trading, been able to try other top beers from other breweries, but none of them have had the overall “hit” consistency that SP has compared to its relatively infrequent misses.

Thanks, Baback, for giving me the “red pill” of beers (sorry, just finished watching Matrix: Ressurections)!

 

As far as saisons and wilds go, none of those breweries you listed will do it. Sure Firestone and Lost Abbey were some of the originators on the American side, but IMO they've never progressed past those initial phases. Firstly, Belgium does saison and gueuze right obviously. Get some Orval, Dupont, etc. when you can to orient yourself because too many breweries are making clovey, coriander spice bombs that translate as hefes or wits while calling them saisons. Then get some Girardin, Boon, and even Lindeman's cuvees. Tilquin also. Simple stuff, fairly accessible, although not sure what hits Hawaii.

On the American side, my favorite saisons come out of Jester King, Wunderkammer and Keeping Together. Then of course Hill Farmstead as well. de Garde does wonderful things on the funk front, while there's a lot more worth exploring from maybe slightly less consistent Afterthought, Holy Mountain/Floodland, list goes on. Although quality saison is actually hard to come by, if I was only allowed to drink one style, that'd be it.

 

Hawaii is a barren wasteland for quality beer. Thankfully, we have a few things to make up for it

 

I’ve been feeling sorry for myself for missing the big bday bashes at SP Cellar/Brewery, knowing that the fam has a trip to StL at year end, just missing the fun/chaos. It’s a good reminder that I’m still lucky enough to drive across state to get there from time to time without having to fly from Hawaii, NY, CA, etc to taste all the fabulous fluids available at SP. I’ll be bellying up to the bar soon, and to be near THE world class brewery, is a Christmas miracle. Happy Holidays, fam!

 

Hmm i think you should check out non adjunct medianoches. For some reason it’s geared right for my palate, I love those stouts. I’m always surprised by the scores. Most be that but of savoriness that puts some off but it’s in all the right ways for my taste buds, if you live voodoo you might wanna check them out.

 

I have to agree with @KevSal here, for some reason most of the Medianoches just agree with my palate, so much so that at the last share I went to I much preferred Medianoche Reserve over DM, and it wasnt even close.

 

between this story and the last ig post, 2022 will be starting out with a bang

 

This one, @Luscious_Malfoy

 

Interesting. Used to love me some Crooked Stave wilds. They were the best shelfie wilds around these parts for a while. (Nightmare on Brett was a banger) Just don't hear much from them these days. Also I've never had a stout from them. Should be a fun one.

 

do they make anything besides wilds??

 

Hope they mess around with some Sauternes barrels. The port DB Derivations were all fun. Or maybe take another stab at Apple Brandy since the single barrel AB Derivation was what it was. Excited for these.